Open AccessIL-38 and IL-36 Target Autophagy for Regulating Synoviocyte Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Author(s) -
Zhe Hao,
Yi Liu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
disease markers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1875-8630
pISSN - 0278-0240
DOI - 10.1155/2021/7933453
Subject(s) - autophagy , cancer research , rheumatoid arthritis , inflammation , interleukin , medicine , arthritis , immunology , biology , apoptosis , cytokine , biochemistry
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease leading to severe joint damage and disability. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) mostly contribute to the joint inflammation and destruction in RA through distinct mechanisms. However, little is known about newly discovered interleukin- (IL-) 36 and IL-38 involving in the pathology of RA. Here, we assessed the effect of IL-36 and IL-38 on RA-FLS function using IL-36 and IL-38 overexpression plasmids. We found that IL-36 inhibited synoviocytes proliferation while IL-38 showed an opposite influence. Furthermore, IL-36 and IL-38 significantly sequestered or accelerated RA-FLS migration and invasion capacity, respectively. Mechanically, IL-36 and IL-38 targeted autophagy for RA-FLS modulation. Using autophagy inhibitor 3-MA and inducer compound rapamycin, we found that autophagy negatively regulated the survival, migration, and invasion of synovial cells. Based on these results, IL-38 in combination with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA treatment demonstrated the strongest blockage of the above three activities of RA-FLS, and IL-38 overexpression reversed rapamycin-inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Moreover, injection of IL-36 can improve the symptoms of RA in a rat model of RA. Taken together, we conclude that IL-38 and IL-36 target autophagy for regulating synoviocyte proliferation, migration, and invasion in RA.